Obama nominates John Bryson as commerce secretary

President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated businessman John Bryson as the next commerce secretary, touting his expertise that “will help us create more jobs and make America more competitive.”

Bryson, 67, is the former chairman and CEO of Edison International, a California-based utility company. He also co-founded the Natural Resources Defense Council and serves on the boards of several large companies and institutions, including Boeing, Walt Disney and the California Institute of Technology.

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“As commerce secretary, John is going to be an important part of my economic team, promoting American business and American products across the globe,” Obama said in brief remarks introducing his nominee in the State Dining Room. “By working with companies here at home and representing America’s interests abroad, I am confident that he is going to meet the goal that I set of doubling our nation’s exports.”

If confirmed, Bryson would succeed Gary Locke, the current secretary who was nominated in March to be U.S. ambassador to China. Locke would replace former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a potential Republican presidential candidate. Bryson stood with Obama and Locke at the announcement but did not speak.

Obama’s nomination of Bryson signals a potential shift in the role from a low-visibility Cabinet member to a key economic adviser who can help the administration improve the economy and create jobs.

But Bryson faces an uncertain path in the Senate.

A group of 44 Senate Republicans wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in March to say that they would not support a nominee for commerce secretary until the president agrees to sign trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell emailed reporters to “remind” them of Republicans’ plans. “This should not be a difficult decision for the President, particularly when the President himself agrees with us that these agreements will create jobs here in America,” Don Stewart, McConnell’s spokesman, said in the email.

One of the key sticking points is a demand from Democrats for aid to American workers who lose their jobs to outsourcing. Republicans have called the aid program too costly in the current budget climate.

White House press secretary Jay Carney responded to McConnell’s renewed threat to hold up the nomination at a briefing Tuesday afternoon.

“We think that it would be folly to hold up a nomination so important as the commerce secretary for any reason,” Carney told reporters.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) called Bryson’s nomination “deeply out of-touch with our current energy challenge.”